There are a wide variety of different types of industries where material is conveyed from a first vehicle to a second vehicle using a conveyor mechanism. For instance, it is not uncommon in the construction industry for material to be conveyed from one vehicle to another. The same is true of the agricultural industry, and a wide variety of other industries.
By way of specific example, in the agricultural industry, a variety of different materials are often conveyed between vehicles. For instance, fertilizer, seed, chemicals and other commodities are often brought into fields in a variety of different tender vehicles. The commodity is then conveyed from the tender vehicle to an implement that will be used to apply the commodity to the field being treated. Conveying the commodity from the tender vehicle to the implement often involves lining the two vehicles up, both in the side-by-side orientation and in the fore-aft orientation. This can be a cumbersome process, and it may be exacerbated by the size or complexity of the vehicles being used. For instance, wheat and fertilizer are often brought to the fields in semi hopper bottom trailers. The semi is driven near a commodity cart and multiple attempts may be needed in order to get the lateral and fore/aft positions of the cart, relative to the hopper bottom, correct.
Once the vehicles are positioned appropriately, an operator may then move a conveyance system into position between the two vehicles to perform a conveyance operation. The conveyance system may be an auger or paddle chain or belt conveyer or other type of conveyer. It may be carried by the cart or by the semi, or may be a standalone conveyor. It can have a bottom hopper that is positioned underneath the semi hopper bottom, and that receives the commodity from the semi. It may also have a spout on the top of the conveyor (the outlet end of the conveyor) that deposits the commodity into a tank on the implement. The lid on the tank is then opened, as is the door on the semi-hopper and the conveyance operation is performed.
An operator must often manually open the semi hopper bottom door or this may be done using a hydraulic or electric device to assist opening, in order to start flow of the commodity to the conveyor. Similarly, the operator must often manually open the cart lid, or the operator may use a hydraulically or electrically assisted device, to open the cart lid. The filling operation may need to be visually monitored and manual intervention may be used to shut off product flow once the tank is filled to the appropriate level, with the commodity.
Once the conveyance operation is completed, the conveyor may then be repositioned to fill another tank on the implement. The semi hopper bottom may also need to be repositioned if a second type of product is being conveyed. These types of operations can result in the implement, the conveyance system, and the semi (or other tender vehicle), being repositioned several times. This may also result in the conveyance system being moved several times up and down the semi-trailer, and also up and down the implement.
The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.